From Season to Season

Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” —John 10:27-28                                                           In his message for the 50 th World Day of Prayer for Vocations (which is celebrated each year on the Fourth Sunday of Easter) Pope Benedict XVI observed, “ Hope is the expectation of something positive in the future, yet at the same time it must sustain our present existence, which is often marked by dissatisfaction and failures… To have hope, therefore, is the equivalent of trusting in God who is faithful, who keeps the promises of the covenant.” This sense of hope is at the heart of this Sund...

Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” —John 10:11 This Sunday, which is also World Day of Prayer for Vocations, is a time set aside each year to pray, in a special way, for an increase in vocations to the priesthood, permanent diaconate, and consecrated life. The Church needs ministers who are willing to give their lives in service and prayer for the sake of the Gospel.   The Good Shepherd from the Catacomb of Priscilla in Rome (250-300) Today, as I offer my own prayers for those who are discerning God’s call, I was especially struck by the first line of the Gospel of this Sunday’s Mass (quoted above). This sentiment is echoed in Pope Francis’ Message for the 52nd World Day of Prayer for Vocations : “To offer one’s life in mission is possible only if we are able to leave ourselves behind… At the root of every Christian vocation we find this basic movement, which is part of the experience of faith. Belief means t...

His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him. He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly. - Luke 1:50-52 Our tradition has ascribed many titles to Mary. But I don’t believe there are many of us who would call the Mother of God a revolutionary. But in her Magnificat , which is re-told in today’s Gospel , we hear Mary speaking as a prophet: The One who has done great things in and for her is also changing the order of the world. The poor will be lifted up, the hungry will be fed, and the least of all the peoples will be glorified. There is no embrace of the status quo in her words. Instead, they celebrate the seismic shift that the Incarnation caused in hearts and in the world itself. John Howard Yoder , a Mennonite theologian, describes Mary’s words in this way: What it says is the language, not of sweet maidens, but of Maccabees: it speaks of dethroning the m...

If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray?... In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost. - Matthew 18:12, 14   The image of the Good Shepherd is one of the most well-beloved ways of understanding God’s provident care. Saint Gregory the Great, reflecting on Christ, the Good Shepherd, noted that anyone who follows this Shepherd will “enter into a life of faith; from faith he will go out to vision, from belief to contemplation, and will graze in the good pastures of everlasting life… Beloved, let us set out for these pastures, where we shall keep joyful festival with so many of our fellow citizens.” He concluded, “No matter what obstacles we encounter, we must not allow them to turn us aside from the joy of the heavenly feast” ( Homily 14 ,  3-6).     For the exiled people of Israel, this vision of the On...

Only goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for years to come. —Psalm 23:5-6 When Pope Pius XI instituted a special feast honoring Christ “the King” in 1925, he lamented a world that had been ravaged by the First World War and which had begun to bow down before the lords of exploitative consumerism, nationalism, secularism, and new forms of injustice. The old power structures in Europe and the Middle East were fading into memory (including the colonial system that allowed European nations to claim holdings in Africa, South East Asia, and South America) and a new and uncertain world was rising in their place.  Pope Pius XI opening the "Holy Door" for the 1925 Jubilee Year, during which he instituted the Feast of Christ the King It would seem that Pope Pius began to understand that, for the Christian, the passing empires and colonies did not define who or whose they were. Instead, he reflec...

For several years, a story has circulated about a text said to be inscribed on the tomb of a bishop buried in Westminster Abbey. It is supposed to read:   When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older, and wiser, I discovered the world would not change, so I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country. But it, too, seemed immovable. As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, I settled for changing only my family, those closest to me, but alas, they would have none of it. And now, as I lie on my deathbed, I suddenly realized: If I had only changed myself first, then by example, I would have changed my family From their inspiration and encouragement, I would then have been able to better my country, and who knows, I may have even changed the world. For those in ministry, especially for those entrusted with the care of souls, there is a tendency...